The Devil/Ten of Wands. The Devil corresponds with Earth (cold/binds and dry/shapes, and stable, material, practical energies that are slow to change), Capricorn (“I build,” ambitious, competent, cautious, cunning), Ayin (the eye, senses), and the Path between Hod (which provides analysis and communication) and Tipareth (the hub of the creation process where energies harmonize and focus to illuminate and clarify). It represents bondage and addiction, which can also be seen as a lack of choice. This card can also represent blind ambition, and the secret plans that usually need to be in place to manifest that ambition. In some situations, The Devil can represent the primal impulses that are a part of our survival instinct; this is particularly true with the Welsh Devil, who is portrayed as The Horned One, a God of the earth, rather than the traditional Christian Satan. The Ten of Wands (Saturn, discipline, responsibility, limitations and resistance, in Sagittarius, “I seek,” philosophic, fun-loving, blundering) tells of the blocking of the creative power of the suit of Wands, most likely because the Fire of creativity has run out of fuel. Perhaps this is one time where a small does of The Devil will reignite those Wands.

My Thoth card is the Seven of Swords reversed. “Futility” reversed The Seven of Swords (Moon, feelings and emotions, illusion, imagination, in Aquarius, “I know,” friendships, cause-oriented, the group, aloofness) in an upright position tells of the effort to maintain things as we want them, usually to the point of using unethical means. Crowley sees this card as weak; it tells us that cunning will work better than forcing the issue, but often when we use cunning, ethics become blurred. In an upright position, this card could very well represent the lethargy I have felt of late; it is reversed, so things are looking up.

My Legacy card is the Page of Coins reversed, flavored by the Six of Cups. The Page of Coins (Aries, “I want,” assertive, action oriented, Taurus, “I have,” sensual, cautious, stubborn, and Gemini, “I think,” curious, sociable, dual) is a listener, and this Page listens to both sides of an argument because he is also a student, and is eager to learn. He watches his world with curiosity and wants to learn how everything works. Because this Page is Earth of Earth, in an upright position he is practical and cautious, but will actually take risks on occasion. Because the card is reversed, today’s learning focus, if it exists at all, won’t have much to do with the physical world. The Six of Cups (Sun, the inner core of a person or situation in Scorpio, “I desire,” intense, compulsive, deep, obsessive) tells of beneficial connections with others. This card reminds me that happiness comes from within me, and happiness needs no expensive surroundings in order to manifest. This happiness may be fed and supported by memories of the past, by sharing my bounty with others, or by seeing things from the viewpoint of a child, but no matter what, there is potential to be had.

My 6-digit date number is 8, the focused and active response to the beginning of degeneration represented by the number 7.

My horoscopes: “You have a lot to celebrate, Sagittarius, especially where your love life is concerned. Today you may receive a communication from your loved one that makes you yearn for this person's company. You've been together a lot recently, attending many dinners and social gatherings, but you've had little one-on-one time. Do what you can to rectify that tonight!”

And: “Today your focus (and the focus of everyone around you) should be on putting your ideas to work. So if you're in a collaborative environment, use all of your clout to get everyone going and on task. Too many outside voices are holding up your progress right now. Getting a consensus is important, but it isn't always necessary. If you need to push to get things moving, just do it -- no one will be annoyed. In fact, they'll be grateful for your leadership.”

And: “A chance to earn a small amount of money, perhaps by putting in a little extra work at home, might come your way today. You could hear about it through a friend or colleague. A visitor might come to your home at some point, perhaps to help with something that needs to be done. This promises to be a very exciting day, with a lot of stimulation that could keep you occupied late into the night!”

My Sun reading: “The Sun entering earthy, steady Taurus increases desire for improvements and motivates you to work hard. If you're single, Venus changing signs isn't the time to start anything new, but you can make potentially faithful and loyal friends. Dating someone special? Tonight could be a turning point in your relationship.”

Through the intense water cleanse that I performed this past weekend at the request of Cernunnos (and while working on the 23rd Path, which connects to Water through The Hanging Man), I realized that the lethargy I have been experiencing is connected directly to my sacral chakra. I still believe that this “disconnect” has happened because of the large amount of time I am spending interacting with the Sacred. These higher and purer sacred energies are affecting my own energy body, throwing it out of balance, and thus throwing my whole self off balance.

Here is some information about the sacral chakra that I compiled while working on my Reiki Assessments: Sacral chakra, below the navel, the color orange, element of water, my keyword “physical sensations.” This chakra to me is about physical sensations and the connections these sensations bring about. Yes, this chakra is about sex and physical sexual pleasure and physical or chemical attraction or lust, but it is also about the pleasure of the sun on my skin, the taste of a piece of chocolate, the smell of a turkey just taken from the oven, the sound of the crickets and tree frogs on a summer evening. It is about physical awareness and sensations of all kinds, and it is about self-gratification and self-esteem. We connect with others through touch, through hearing, through seeing, through smelling, and even through tasting. We use the physical of the root chakra through the physical sensations of the sacral chakra to connect with the entities and the physical world around us. Physically, this chakra is associated with our reproductive organs. Psychically this chakra is connected with psychic taste.

I spent a lot of time with my sacral chakra yesterday and today, cleaning it out, balancing it with the rest of my chakras, as I continue to drink more water. I realized that while I do spend a lot of time with my throat chakra, which is also connected to my energy body, the focus for that chakra is communication of all kinds with the outside world. On the other hand, the sacral chakra is about communication with my own body, and it is in this focus that I am lacking.

I am also focusing on my breathing. The alchemy blog that I have been following states that we are all trees without roots or branches, and it is our breath and our breathing that provides the grounding, provides the branches that reach for the sun, and that provides the circulation necessary for our bodies to live and be healthy. This makes sense, and I am reminded of the many meditations that I perform which involve breathing (such as the Three Breath Meditation I do each morning) or not breathing (such as the microcosmic orbit).

Plus, I spent two whole days working in my beloved Cape May garden, doing a Spring cleanup and moving a few plants, and I brought squirrels number 7 and 8 to Higbee Beach. LOL, my sore muscles are a lovely reminder to me, to pay attention to what I feel like on the inside.

I think the work with this Path started a few weekends ago, on March 13th, while I was working on the 27th Path. I had an Aha! Moment, where I totally left my physical body and temporarily connected with an extremely rarified, highly vibrating sacred energy. It has taken me this long to make the connection, and I have struggled quite a bit. But now, I’ve got the answer, and of course, it is Balance. Even my dearest Danu has told be since that day in March that I need to go within to find Balance.

And so, on to the 22nd Path. This Path is the first that comes out of Tiphareth, and it corresponds to the Dark Night of the 26th Path, the destruction of form, which is replaced by the concept of abstract. The 26th Path connected Hod, the bottom of the Pillar of Form, with Tiphareth, the sphere of balance and wholeness. This path, the 22nd Path, brings that balance and wholeness to the middle of the Pillar of Form, to Geburah, the sephiroth that tells of the sacrifices that are necessary to keep things going.

The time has come to move away from the abstract, and to begin rebuilding after the three Dark Nights. Like Sunday morning, when I walked to the beach under a clear sky as the birds chirped, after the deluge and chaos of Saturday’s storm, it is time to see what is left; it is time to see what was strong enough to survive.

$